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The city of Birmingham is getting ready to spend millions of dollars to fight gun violence and help victims or people surrounded by it make better choices.Birmingham has seen two mass shootings this year in Five Points South and North Birmingham.Because of that, leaders in the city's community safety initiative department believe the best way to solve the gun violence plaguing the city is to spread $2 million of its American Rescue Plan Act money among five organizations. Here’s how the more than $2 million plan breaks down: Community Initiatives will get $130,350 to implement an integrated violence intervention program under the Community Safety Initiatives Immediate Response Action Plan.Institute of Research for Social Justice in Action will receive $700,000 to implement a community practitioner certification and Transforming Communities Through Effective Violence Intervention Strategies program under the Community Safety Initiatives Immediate Response Action Plan.National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform is expected to receive $302,418 for the design, implementation, and refinement of the city of Birmingham’s gun violence reduction strategy (“GVRS��) and community violence intervention (“CVI��) ecosystems under the Community Safety Initiatives Immediate Response Action Plan. Under this program, Bean says they will create a group called One Hood Program that will work with high-risk individuals who are involved in crimes.Uche Bean, the director of Community Safety Initiatives, said, “The high-risk profile doesn’t mean that they’ve caused harm to the community. Sometimes it may mean that they may have been shot before or they may be a part of a profile because they identify with a certain group, clique or gang.”Trajectory Changing Solutions LLC. will get $700,000 to create street outreach programs. “We use people with lived experiences that can go and connect with the community. I think the connective in community is the most important part and utilizing those good community members to influence those that may feel that they have no other option,�� Bean said.Bean said their bid attracted the five organizations that will split the money to help Birmingham police identify the people who are at most risk of committing violent crimes.It will also help surviving gunshot victims and people who live in high-crime neighborhoods with conflict resolution, mentoring and job programs.“We use people with lived experiences that can go and connect with the community,�� Bean said.There’s a connection already happening inside the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s hospital’s trauma unit.Lacrecia Day is with the Offender Alumni Association,which helps gunshot victims think twice about retaliation.“We do have to relocate sometimes, but at the same time, our whole goal is to let them know we are there. We are here to support them. It may be providing them with a referral for counseling,�� Day said.Bean says in one year, OAA has seen over 120 people participate, and none of the victims have retaliated or gone to jail because of their incident.OAA is one of the five groups expected to get $297,582 to help expand its success outside of the trauma unit and into the emergency room, where the victim's friends and family are awaiting positive news."We're able to go over and talk to them, but not just them, but there's a host of other people that are hosting them and surrounding them. They may be thinking retaliation, too. We want to change those people as well,�� Day said.A change Bean says won't happen overnight but is worth waiting for the results.“The ARPA money may run out, but I think if we show proof and results that it will incentivize others to be heavily invested in this work that we've seen nationally,�� Bean said.